The Olympic flame took a festive, valedictory lap around London on Thursday, taking in a number of the sun-drenched capital's most famous landmarks and obtaining a royal welcome on the second-to-last day of its trek across Britain.
The torch - carried by athletes, charity employees and celebrities - thrilled thousands of Londoners because it swept across Regent's Canal in Camden, through the city's newly renovated neo-gothic train station at St Pancras and down the winding streets of the traditional town of London.
Prince William, his wife Kate, and his brother Prince Harry posed for images as torch bearers took the flame to the steps of Buckingham Palace.
At London's Hyde Park, where Thursday's torch relay ended, it absolutely was greeted by the London's mayor, who took a swipe at US presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's suggestions that Britain won't be able to host the games, that formally embark Friday.
"There's a bloke known as Mitt Romney who needs to grasp if we have a tendency to are prepared," Johnson asked the screaming crowd. "Are we have a tendency to ready? Yes we have a tendency to are!"
For many Londoners, Thursday was their initial glimpse of a golden beacon that has spent the past sixty eight days traveling up and down the country, from Loch Ness to Land's finish, moreover as going across the water to eire, Northern eire and also the Channel Islands.
In the north London neighborhood of Camden, several families with young kids got up early to cheer because the torch come into being its relay at the Victorian-era Roundhouse music hall around 6:50am. Others merely hadn't been to bed.
"It was pretty cool to envision it truly," said 19-year-old Anastasia Gribaldi, a Goth who had been out all night clubbing. "It was like: 'Wow, it is the torch!' we have a tendency to weren't expecting it."
The torch completes its 70-day, 8,000-mile (12,900-kilometer) journey on Friday, lighting the Olympic Stadium's cauldron during a ceremony marking the official begin of the 2012 London Games. The identity of the ultimate torchbearer continues to be a closely guarded secret.
The torch cruised past a number of the city's most spectacular landmarks, as well as the homes of Parliament, ten Downing St and Buckingham Palace, where it absolutely was greeted by Prince William and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge.
Earlier within the day it sped across London's River Thames beside Paralympic champion Ade Adipitan, whose dreadlocks flapped within the wind as he propelled his wheelchair across the slender Millennium Bridge.
Londoners who have spent abundant of the past few weeks worrying concerning rain, Olympic security and doable strikes perceived to loosen up.
In the south London borough of Lambeth, flag-waving crowds chanted "We need the torch!" In nearby Wandsworth, 24-year-old John Lake - a cancer survivor who has raised thousands for the Brain analysis Trust - pumped his fist and waved the torch back and forth as he dried-up the road with a mile-wide grin.
"Make some noise!" somebody shouted because the crowd erupted into cheers.
The crowds thickened additional because the torch created its manner back across the Thames, with Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders - who played Patsy and Edina within the British comedy "Absolutely Fabulous" - taking the flame for a jaunty walk in London's wealthy Chelsea neighborhood.
On Oxford Street, London's famous searching thoroughfare, the torch rode on an open-topped, double-decker bus.
Still, not everybody was fixed within the Olympic excitement.
"It was pretty convenient that it came through as i used to be obtaining my morning low," said Jack Tate, a 28-year-old retail employee in Camden. "Now I will say I've seen it. there is no got to watch any further of this Olympics rubbish for ensuing few weeks."
The torch - carried by athletes, charity employees and celebrities - thrilled thousands of Londoners because it swept across Regent's Canal in Camden, through the city's newly renovated neo-gothic train station at St Pancras and down the winding streets of the traditional town of London.
Prince William, his wife Kate, and his brother Prince Harry posed for images as torch bearers took the flame to the steps of Buckingham Palace.
At London's Hyde Park, where Thursday's torch relay ended, it absolutely was greeted by the London's mayor, who took a swipe at US presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's suggestions that Britain won't be able to host the games, that formally embark Friday.
"There's a bloke known as Mitt Romney who needs to grasp if we have a tendency to are prepared," Johnson asked the screaming crowd. "Are we have a tendency to ready? Yes we have a tendency to are!"
For many Londoners, Thursday was their initial glimpse of a golden beacon that has spent the past sixty eight days traveling up and down the country, from Loch Ness to Land's finish, moreover as going across the water to eire, Northern eire and also the Channel Islands.
In the north London neighborhood of Camden, several families with young kids got up early to cheer because the torch come into being its relay at the Victorian-era Roundhouse music hall around 6:50am. Others merely hadn't been to bed.
"It was pretty cool to envision it truly," said 19-year-old Anastasia Gribaldi, a Goth who had been out all night clubbing. "It was like: 'Wow, it is the torch!' we have a tendency to weren't expecting it."
The torch completes its 70-day, 8,000-mile (12,900-kilometer) journey on Friday, lighting the Olympic Stadium's cauldron during a ceremony marking the official begin of the 2012 London Games. The identity of the ultimate torchbearer continues to be a closely guarded secret.
The torch cruised past a number of the city's most spectacular landmarks, as well as the homes of Parliament, ten Downing St and Buckingham Palace, where it absolutely was greeted by Prince William and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge.
Earlier within the day it sped across London's River Thames beside Paralympic champion Ade Adipitan, whose dreadlocks flapped within the wind as he propelled his wheelchair across the slender Millennium Bridge.
Londoners who have spent abundant of the past few weeks worrying concerning rain, Olympic security and doable strikes perceived to loosen up.
In the south London borough of Lambeth, flag-waving crowds chanted "We need the torch!" In nearby Wandsworth, 24-year-old John Lake - a cancer survivor who has raised thousands for the Brain analysis Trust - pumped his fist and waved the torch back and forth as he dried-up the road with a mile-wide grin.
"Make some noise!" somebody shouted because the crowd erupted into cheers.
The crowds thickened additional because the torch created its manner back across the Thames, with Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders - who played Patsy and Edina within the British comedy "Absolutely Fabulous" - taking the flame for a jaunty walk in London's wealthy Chelsea neighborhood.
On Oxford Street, London's famous searching thoroughfare, the torch rode on an open-topped, double-decker bus.
Still, not everybody was fixed within the Olympic excitement.
"It was pretty convenient that it came through as i used to be obtaining my morning low," said Jack Tate, a 28-year-old retail employee in Camden. "Now I will say I've seen it. there is no got to watch any further of this Olympics rubbish for ensuing few weeks."
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